10 thoughts on the Bears' Week 1 loss to the Falcons

Brad Biggs and Dan Wiederer break down the Bears' Week 1 loss to the Falcons on Sept. 10, 2017.

Ten thoughts after the Bears opened the season with a 23-17 loss to the Falcons at Soldier Field, their fourth consecutive loss in a season opener.

Plenty to jump into after an eventful opener on a perfect Sunday afternoon along the lakeshore, including the possibility the Bears will not be able to play this coming Sunday at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa after Hurricane Irma.

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1. The Bears were hurting at wide receiver and now they're positively reeling. They lost their No. 1 wide out Cameron Meredith two weeks back to a torn ACL and now Kevin White appears headed to the shelf for an extended period of time, perhaps the rest of the season. ESPN and the NFL Network both reported White suffered a broken collarbone when he was hit by Falcons rookie defensive end Takk McKinley early in the fourth quarter. He was evaluated on the sideline and then went to the locker room. He didn't return and was getting X-rays shortly after the game ended. Teammates were concerned and didn't sound particularly optimistic.

"We all ran back there to talk to Kevin," wide receiver Kendall Wright said. "He's hurting real bad. We hope he's not bad. We hope he will be able to pull through. We lost Cam already and if we lose Kev, I don't know if we lost him, he's a big part of this team.

"I know for a fact ... it's really a tough, tough break for him. He's got to keep grinding and keep his head right. It's crazy to me because people on the outside only see that he is getting hurt. When he's out there and he's healthy, I don't know anyone that can stop him. Especially one on one on the outside. He's a big physical fast dude that can do whatever."

Unfortunately, White hasn't been able to stay healthy. He played in four games last season before suffering the second season-ending injury of his career. This could possibly be the third or at least sideline him for a huge chunk of the season when the Bears are desperate for production at the position and desperate for the seventh overall pick of the 2015 draft to step forward. General manager Ryan Pace said last week he believed the athleticism and all the traits the Bears coveted when they selected White were still there. It's got to be especially painful for Pace because he and everyone else speaks glowingly about White the person, not just the player.

So the question is where do the Bears go from here? Do they place a call to Vincent Jackson and see if the 34-year-old wants to catch passes from Mike Glennon again? Dorial Green-Beckham, a former second-round pick, has a lot of talent but a knack for wearing out his welcome everywhere he goes and doing so in quick order. There isn't a magical answer on the street waiting for Pace to call and I highly doubt there's a simple trade solution either.

If White is out for an extended period of time, we'll learn a lot about Tre McBride, the waiver claim from the Titans last week, quickly. McBride was inactive for the opener. Markus Wheaton practiced a little last week and should be back in the next week or two after surgery to repair his fractured left pinkie. Yes, there is a good chance training camp fan favorite Tanner Gentry could be elevated from the practice squad.

It's inconceivable the Bears will pick up the fifth-year option in White's contract at the end of the season. That's really not news at this point. He is under contract through 2018 and has a fully guaranteed salary of $2,693,597. Unfortunately, it's just about reached the point where the Bears will have to operate as if they can't expect White to be there for them. Hopefully, he catches some good news. We'll have to see what kind of update coach John Fox provides on Monday.

2. When is the last time the Bears plunked down big coin and looked so smart so quickly? The Bears finalized a four-year contract extension for Akiem Hicks on Saturday and it's a deal most expected to happen. Hicks wanted to have security in place before the season started so there wouldn't be an injury risk for him as he sought a huge pay hike over the two-year, $10 million contract he signed in March 2016. The Bears liked the idea of securing Hicks and keeping him off the open market at the end of the season and perhaps signing him at a discount. Those are powerful factors that can move two sides together quickly and it worked as one source suggested back during training camp it would. The source said Hicks would wind up piggybacking the deal that Stephon Tuitt was working on with the Steelers. Tuitt signed early Saturday, inking what was reported to be a five-year, $60 million extension. The raw numbers aren't in, or at least I haven't seen them yet, but Hicks' package ($48 million over four new years) looks similar in that it averages the same $12 million per year. Hicks is reported to get $30 million guaranteed.

How'd he celebrate? He went out and wrecked the Falcons offensive line. Hicks was credited with two sacks and three quarterback hits. He was a big part of a run defense that limited the Falcons to 64 yards on 23 carries (2.8 per rush). Remove three runs by Matt Ryan for 11 yards and Atlanta had 53 yards on 20 carries. The biggest gain by a running back was seven yards. Hicks picked up where he left off last season.

"It is a complete blessing to be here for another four years," he said. "I am happy that this organization believes in me and wants me to continue to be a part of their team. I know (two sacks per game) is going to be the expectation going forward and it's always going to be in my mind."

Having the business side of things wrapped up should make life easier for Hicks too.

"I really wanted to put it out of my mind just because there are a lot of moving parts that I can't control," he said. "The only thing I can control is how I dominate out there on the field and so you've got to let that go and focus on what your job is."

Falcons right tackle Ryan Schraeder was familiar with Hicks from previous NFC South battles. He said Hicks is a better player than when he last saw him and I wonder if part of that is because Hicks is probably a better fit as a 3-4 end than a 4-3 tackle.

"He's huge," Schraeder said. "He's probably at least 6-6, 340. He's a load and he brings it. He puts forth more effort than a lot of guys that size. I knew coming into this game he was going to be a load. I think he's gotten a little better. He's probably learned more maneuvers. He probably knows the game better. He's a good player."

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He'll be very good for the Bears for seasons to come.

3. No one can say at this point if Sunday's Bears-Buccaneers game scheduled for noon at Raymond James Stadium will go off as planned. Hurricane Irma is devastating parts of Florida and is expected to cause significant damage to the Tampa area. The Bucs have picked up shop and moved to Charlotte, N.C., without any certainty yet as to where they will be practicing this week. The NFL postponed the Bucs-Dolphins game in Week 1 and pushed it to Week 11 when the teams are both on a bye. The league cannot push off a second game for the Bucs in light of the natural disaster. So I would expect the game to be played this week, it's just a question of where. I don't believe there is any way possible the game will be at Soldier Field. The Bucs won't go for that and the league doesn't want to take a home game for Tampa and turn it into a home game for the Bears. So in the event the game cannot be played at Raymond James Stadium, I'd expect it to go to a neutral site somewhere on the Eastern half of the country. Probably the closest it could be to Chicago is in Detroit at Ford Field. Certainly everyone hopes that damage in Tampa is minimal and hosting a game there on Sunday is not a problem. The Bears will certainly be in communication with the Bucs and the league office this week to monitor the situation. The Bucs don't have an edge on the Bears having watched them in Week 1. They've been put through a lot having to uproot from Tampa this week not knowing what will happen while they are gone. This is always a super popular road trip for fans that travel to see the Bears and hopefully Irma doesn't pack a wallop.

4. Boy, this defense sure is prone to the kind of blown plays that turn your stomach. It happened late last December when Jordy Nelson got loose for a 60-yard gain behind the secondary, a play that put the Packers in position for a game-winning field goal. It happened again here when quarterback Matt Ryan was under duress but still had time to chuck the football half the field to uncovered tight end Austin Hooper, who did the rest himself, stiff-arming safety Quintin Demps to the Soldier Field turf and rolling into the end zone for an 88-yard touchdown. It was the longest pass for a touchdown against the Bears since Gus Frerotte to Bernard Berrian for 99 yards in the Nov. 30, 2008 meeting with the Vikings at the Metrodome. It's the longest touchdown reception a tight end has had against the Bears, topping the 81-yarder Jimmie Giles caught from Doug Williams in a Nov. 1, 1981 game.

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"I think we had a miscommunication on the call," coach John Fox said afterward.

That much was apparent. Linebackers Jerrell Freeman and Danny Trevathan seemed confused before the snap on the third-and-3 from the Falcons' 12-yard line. Freeman sort of re-routed Hooper off the line of scrimmage but then the tight end ran completely uncovered straight downfield.

"The particular call we played was not the call that we called," Fox said. "But I'm not going to throw people under the bus, obviously."

Rookie free safety Eddie Jackson was on that side of the field. He closed on running back Tevin Coleman, who had split out wide and was crossing the field. At that point, the Bears had four defenders surrounding two receivers. Strong safety Quintin Demps was over top of the wide receiver on the opposite side, Julio Jones. Demps was either supposed to be doubling over there or maybe he was supposed to be in the middle of the field. But someone had to run with Hooper and that someone could not have been Demps because, again, Demps was on the opposite side of the field.

"Piss-poor football on my part," Demps said. "Bad football on my part. I've gotta be in the middle of the field."

I tend to think Jackson was supposed to be running with Hooper but that's just a guess. I know Vic Fangio's defense wouldn't allow for the tight end to cruise the middle of the field with no one near him and that's what happened.

"I thought it was just a two high defense and ran my route and Matt (Ryan) did a great job of looking off, or looking at the underneath route runners and that pulled the safety up and I was just left uncovered," Hooper said. "Everyone wants me to give an articulate explanation. I was just wide open. Caught it. Ran with it.

"I was probably a couple steps down the field I realized I was wide open. Just put my hand up and Matt saw me and threw it to me. Yeah, it was probably a blown assignment. I couldn't tell you what their defensive call was. I was expecting to be covered."

That is something the Bears have to straighten up. Are blown plays going to happen in a season? You bet. Should Demps have tackled Hooper well before he got to the end zone? No question. But plays like these mar what was an otherwise an impressive outing by the defense against a high-powered offense. Jones was largely held in check. He caught four passes for 66 yards. Running backs Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman made minimal contributions. But Hooper took the top off the defense because the Bears left him uncovered.

5. Jordan Howard was on the cover of the Gameday magazine Sunday and he was an appropriate choice after his 1,313-yard season a year ago as a rookie. He's expected to be the star of the offense this season but with 4 minutes, 29 seconds remaining in the second quarter, Howard had only three carries. He got five more before halftime, scoring on a 5-yard run when Tarik Cohen lined up in the Wildcat formation and handed off to Howard off a zone read. Howard wound up with only 13 carries for 52 yards and for him to wear down a defense and be the main man, he needs 13 carries in the first half. It's only one game and not indicative of how the season will go for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains. Cohen proved to be a dynamic weapon and we will see much more of him. But if the Bears' identity is going to be pounding the rock with Howard, he needs to get the rock to pound it. Howard didn't meet with reporters after the game and that was a shame. I'm sure he will speak soon and he will have a very big season in this offense. The Bears were surely scrambling some in the 16-play drive at the end of the game when they came up short in the red zone. Benny Cunningham was lost to an ankle injury earlier in the game and I believe he was slated to do a lot of work on third down. Howard isn't a very good receiver out of the backfield. He dropped a pass near the goalline that likely would have been a touchdown. Cohen is going to struggle some in pass protection. The Bears rotated with them each getting eight snaps on the drive.

6. What is there Tarik Cohen can't do? He looks like he can do it all, including lining up at quarterback in the Wildcat formation. Cohen said they installed that in the offense a while back and guess what? The rookie can throw the ball too. He did some Wildcat in high school at Bunn (N.C.) High school and at North Carolina A&T. He completed a 26-yard pass last season and in his college career he completed 3 of 4 passes for 32 yards and two touchdowns.

"I threw it some in college," Cohen said with a smile.

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Maybe that's the next frontier for offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who was creative from the jump with the electric Cohen. Let's see if the Bears break that out at some point this season.

7. Mike Glennon settled down as the game went on and was efficient in the fourth quarter when the Bears needed to move the ball. The bottom line is he was one completion – one pass – away from being hailed as a pretty darn good player in his first start for the Bears and his first start in the NFL since 2014. He needed to toss a touchdown at the end that would have won the game and it didn't happen. He finished 26 of 40 for 213 yards and one touchdown. It wasn't spectacular but the one thing coach John Fox has circled back to when talking about the quarterback since the offseason began is turnovers. Glennon didn't turn the ball over and so from that standpoint, the debut was a solid one and one the Bears are willing to live with for the time being.

"I thought the guys responded pretty well to him," Fox said. "It wasn't always smooth. Like all opening games, they aren't oiled up really well. You have a lot of new people. In our case, we had a quarterback's first time in the offense. I think he operated the team very well."

Keep in mind, any evaluation of any Bears quarterback this season has to take into consideration. Glennon needed to get the ball out on the fourth down play and it's not fair to pin that sack by Brooks Reed on right tackle Bobby Massie. Part of getting the ball out is having a target to throw to.

8. As impressive as the defensive performance was against an offense that just ripped through opponents last season, the Bears did not have a takeaway. Until they start piling up takeaways, games with multiple takeaways and games where they have a decided advantage in turnovers, they're not going to reach elite status. You have to stop the run to be a top-flight defense. The Bears did that. The next thing you have to do is create extra possessions for the offense, or better yet score on defense. It's just one game and that is no sample size to evaluate. But the Bears need to find playmakers on defense, players that can give them an edge each and every Sunday. The pass rush was solid at times and Akiem Hicks was terrific. The defense needs to start getting hands on the football to really take that jump as a defense so it can legitimately be in a conversation about some of the better groups in the league.

9. It's fun to chat with journeymen long snappers, guys that have been battling and battling to get a coveted spot in the league. The good ones keep jobs for a long time and there aren't a lot of openings. Andre DePaola has one of those stories. The Bears claimed him off waivers from the Buccaneers last week, giving him the job and his story is a good one for guys fighting to find a place in the NFL to remember. DePaola played in an NFL game for the first time in 2014 with the Buccaneers. His final year of college football was 2009 at Rutgers. In between is a really neat story of perseverance. He held a job at Best Buy. He worked at an Under Armour store in Baltimore. He worked at the family bar/restaurant there – Depaola's Pub. And he never stopped dreaming.

"My first year in league would have been 2010 but I didn't make a team that year," he said. "In 2011, I didn't make a team. Finally, I got signed in 2012 down with the Bucs. I was cut. I signed a futures (contract) in 2013. Got cut. I signed in the spring of 2014 and finally made the team.

"To be honest with you, I would be lying if I said those thoughts of I can't make it didn't cross my mind but it just didn't seem like an option for me. I was like, 'I'm right there.' It's like when you're right outside the kitchen you can smell the cooking. You're like, 'I'm gonna get in. I'm gonna get in.' I just believed in myself and had talks with my family members about stuff like that and they were just like, 'You can't. You've got to keep going. Give it a shot.' And then in 2012 when I finally did get signed, I was like, 'OK. I can do this.' That gave me a little more confidence because in 2010 I had rookie camp with the Saints. In 2011, I had a tryout for the Patriots. In 2012, I had a tryout with Bucs and made it, and then 2014 I had a tryout with the Jets. I also did a free agent combine that year and I got offers after that. Tampa came in and offered contract.

"It was nice when I finally made it because when you're a free agent trying to break in you always have to be ready. You never know when you are going to get called to do a workout and you always want to be at your best. After that first season I was able to sort of, not relax, but have the offseason that I wanted. Work on strength, work on quickness, work on the little things I wanted to get better at not have to worry, 'Oh, could this Tuesday be a workout? Could this Saturday be a workout?' When the phone rang, I answered it. I didn't care if it was 1-800, 1-900, I answered it."

DePaola suffered a torn ACL in the season finale for the Bucs last season and wasn't finally cleared to return until last month. The Bucs signed him before the third preseason game but wound up releasing him as part of final cuts. The Bears played the Bucs late in the season the last two years, so they had evaluations of DePaola and liked him. Plus, he had experience working with kicker Connor Barth in Tampa.

He's happy to have a new home snapping again.

10. Eric Kush would almost certainly have been the replacement for Kyle Long at left guard he was lost for the season in training camp when the team announced he was undergoing surgery to replace a torn hamstring. Kush signed a modest $2.7 million, two-year contract to return to the Bears and he was clearly the top interior swing man on the roster. Now, he's left to bide his time rehabilitating and doing what he can to help out in the meeting room.

Kush is returning to the classroom as well. The virtual classroom. He's enrolled in a graduate online program through California University of Pennsylvania, where he played, in Performance Enhancement and Injury Prevention.

"When I hurt myself and realized I was going to be on IR for a long time," Kush said. "It was something I have been wanting to do for a while, talking to the director over there, Barry McGlumphy, he helps out the Chiefs during training camp. We'd been talking back and forth over the years. Now seemed like the right time.

"To say the least, the injury was disappointing. I'll be doing rehab through the season and in January I should be pretty good and back to normal training. Instead of taking time off in February, I will be getting back into it. I'll be damn sure better than ever."

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Maybe he'll learn a few things along the way.

10a. Outside linebacker Pernell McPhee, activated from the physically unable to perform list last week, had four snaps on defense. The Bears are clearly going to bring him along slowly. What stood out to me on defense was Sam Acho got 37 snaps on defense, including plays wiped out by penalty. Acho was part of the base defense. Meanwhile, Willie Young got only 19 snaps. That's a little curious and I am interested to hear what defensive coordinator Vic Fangio has to say about their playing time this week.

10b. All 10 practice squad players on the Bears' practice squad were signed to minimum deals. They earn $7,200 for each week they are with the team for a total of $122,400 if they last the entire season. The Bears typically rotate members of the practice squad every few weeks and when injuries hit, players are promoted. The weekly pay of $7,200 is only the minimum for the practice squad and it's important to remember practice squad players are free agents and can be signed by another team at any time.

10c. Rookie tight end Adam Shaheen had 10 snaps. Half of those came in personnel groupings with the other two tight ends that played on offense, Dion Sims and Zach Miller.

10d. Defensive end Roy Robertson-Harris got nice run in his first NFL game. Even though he wasn't credited with any statistics in press box numbers, he had 17 snaps.

10e. Keep an eye on inside linebacker Jerrell Freeman, who the team announced after the game was in concussion protocol.

10f. The Bucs opened as 6-point favorites over the Bears. Maybe that number changes if the game isn't played in Tampa.